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'A thing of beauty is a joy forever; its loveliness increases; it will never pass into nothingness, but still will keep a bower quiet for us, and a sleep full of sweet dreams, and health and quiet breathing' Keats

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About Me

I am lucky enough to work from home indulging my passion for vintage & antique textiles, haberdashery & other paraphernalia that I just can't live without. I am partial to chippy paintwork, faded photographs & reading cards & letters that have long ago lost their owners. I realise that I will never make my fortune doing what I love, but the pleasure I get from hand~making something completely unique is reward enough. Working with treasures in the form of textiles, buttons, beads & trims is a privilege and I strive every day to learn more about their past.

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Friday, 24 April 2009

I hope that everyone had a nice Easter break ~ it all seems such a long time ago now, and I have been absent from blogging for too long!

It's amazing how a deadline focuses the mind isn't it? I have a stall at a local antiques fair in Hungerford tomorrow and wanted some new (old) items for displaying buttons, ribbons & fabrics etc. I had some pieces under the bed waiting for a makeover and I finally decided that now was the time to get the paint out and try and work some magic. My motto recently has been; 'if in doubt paint it white' ~ which is essentially what I did!

I have had this miniature vintage trug on my desk for ages holding pens & pencils etc.

Three coats of Chalk White later, with a bit of rubbing back with a sanding block to give it a timeworn feel it now looks like this...

Months ago, I bought a large sized jewellery stand in the shape of a mannequin (a modern one, with lots of glitzy decoration, not my style ~ but I wanted a larger size and couldn't find anything else) so I stripped her bare, took it all apart and then covered the body with scraps cut from an original vintage French embroidery magazine. I didn't want to photocopy the magazine as I like the flimsyness of the paper on the original and the worn texture, so I cut it up into varying sized pieces and slowly covered her in a decoupage manner, overlapping as I went until the resin base was completely covered. I then coated her with PVA glue which works just as well as any varnish and let her dry. I am sharing the stall at the fair with my Mum who specializes in 1950's costume jewellery, so I expect she will be adorned with beads and baubles along with a little bit of lace and silk. I forgot to take any 'before' photos, but here she is now...

Next for the white paint treatment was a little old wooden box with compartments that I bought on ebay for next to nothing ~ this time I used Joa's White from Farrow & Ball which is a creamy aged white. After a bit of scuffing on the edges with the sanding block and lining the little compartments with some of the same old French paper it now looks like this...

Using the same colour, I overpainted an mdf trug that I had painted red about 5 years ago! After a couple of coats and some rough treatment, I managed to get some of the old red paint showing through which I was quite pleased with ~ and it is a perfect size for displaying some small pieces of vintage fabric...

Gorgeous girl felt that she was missing out on the painting action and had to join in ~ the kitchen table was a busy little area, I just managed to stop her from painting everything green!

I found this lovely vintage Terry's chocolate box with drawers for a song with the thought in my mind of covering it with old fabric. Firstly, I had to paint it with a coat of white as the fabric I had chosen was quite thin and the dark pattern showed through.

The fabric is French c.1900 and pretty shabby ~ very faded florals, my favourite kind ~ with a few holes here and there so I knew that I couldn't really use it for much else ~ but it covered the box like a dream...

Last on the list was a peculiar little single drawer also bought on ebay that looked like an old tool box drawer ~ very dirty and odd looking, but I have a thing about miniature drawers (nothing to do with lingerie!).

I used some leftover paint from my Easter egg project in another Farrow & Ball colour called Pale Powder which has the merest hint of duck egg blue and then covered the top with another piece of 1950's French paper, I love the typography and graphics! The little vintage brass drawer knob I already had in my box of treasures just waiting for the right project.

Phew! That was my week of makeover madness ~ I think I will put the paintbrush away for a little while ~ until I can work up some energy to tackle the stack of old picture frames under the bed. ('Under my bed' works in the same way that Mary Poppins' bag does!)

Thursday, 9 April 2009

Easter Greetings to everyone ~ I hope that you all have a lovely weekend!

Firstly I must say a big thank you to LissyLou (lissylouandthe2littleboys) for such a thoughtful and generous giveaway prize. LissyLou had put together a lovely springtime theme of flowers & butterflies in my favourite shades of duck egg blue & pink! A little pocket sized mirror in its own embroidered pouch, a beautiful address book (for my desk) an enamel butterfly necklace (gorgeous girl has already noticed this!) and a big bar of chocolate, which I am ashamed to say didn't last much longer than it took to download this photo! This really started my week off with a big smile on my face...

I finally got around to setting up an Easter themed vignette ~ not sure that this will be it's final resting place, but for now it is in the guest bedroom as we have friends coming to stay...I used a shabby vintage miniature armoire that I use when out and about at craft fairs, that I roughly painted in off white. I had collected a few old egg cups, which I filled with shredded brown paper (I am one of those mad women who has difficulty in throwing away useful packaging materials and have a hoard of rubbish like this under the bed!). I made the eggs a few weeks ago, using German glass glitter and other vintage trimmings on wooden eggs that I painted in shades of duck egg & white ~ and a few mini chocolate eggs (the ones that got away!) In the wooden bowl is a hand~pierced goose egg bought in Hungary years ago that I love as it goes with my creamware collection in the kitchen.

Gorgeous girl in her 'Easter Bonnet' ~ her favourite dressing up hat...

More 'Easter Bonnets'...

These are more examples of the beautiful original fashion prints I found dating to 1913. I think the hats are fabulous! I have managed to photograph most of them now and have started offering a few for sale in my shop.

Have a wonderful Easter break everyone ~ don't eat too much chocolate (how much exactly is too much I wonder?)

Sunday, 5 April 2009

It's been a while I'm afraid. I really enjoy posting once a week but juggling ordinary life seems to take up so much time lately...

However, I have managed to get out and about and be a real life human (albeit frazzled) person for a few hours (in addition to Mummy and Wife) and make a few vintage purchases that got my heart racing...

An old toffee tin with gorgeous colours and floral motifs ~ destined for holding buttons or notions of some kind...

A wonderful 1950's clock in perfect working order that I bought with the intention of selling on, but I'm not sure that I can part with it as at the moment I am enjoying the gentle tic~tock in my workroom...

It is nestled on a 1930's eiderdown also bought last week, with the most wonderful floral & roses pattern of the like that I hadn't witnessed before and will be perfect for the end of our bed after I have decorated our bedroom...

A gentle, beautiful Victorian print of a Maude Goodman painting ~ the frame is chipped and discoloured but I won't touch it as I like it this way...

And finally, something to share with everyone ~ a superb collection of original vintage fashion prints, rescued from a book that was all but falling apart called 'Dame Fashion 1786 ~ 1912' by Julius M Price printed in 1913. I have taken some photographs of a small selection of the colour plates, and over the coming weeks will offer them for sale via my website in groups or singles. I have about 140 altogether and each plate features an English or French fashion drawing from a given year between 1786 and 1912. They are so gorgeous and will frame beautifully or would also be perfect for other paper craft projects. I admit that I will have to keep some for myself as I probably will never see anything like them again, I just can't stop browsing through them...

This colour plate is a copy of a painting by the author Julius M Price ~ isn't she beautiful?

Wednesday, 1 April 2009

The first name gorgeous girl pulled out of her 'Easter Bonnet' (favourite dressing up hat!) was Bonnie (Bonjade) who wins the lavender filled heart and 3 co~ordinating painted eggs.

The second name pulled out was Jayne at Country Cottage Chic who wins a set of 3 painted eggs.

Thank you all so much for your lovely comments ~ I really wish I had painted enough eggs to send some to all of you that entered. I've enjoyed making them especially for the event, so will think up some more ideas for giveaways and make them a regular feature!